Ban on ash tree imports over fears of spreading ‘dieback’ disease

A large-scale cull of Britain’s ash trees is being considered in a last-ditch attempt to stave off the “horrific danger” presented by a devastating and little-understood tree disease.

Chalara fraxinea, a fungus that kills ash trees by stripping their leaves from the top down, has already taken hold in 21 countries across mainland Europe, and was found in fully-grown trees in rural Britain for the first time this week. Computer models run by the Forestry Commission show that almost all mainland Britain could be ravaged by the disease, with 160,000 hectares of woodland (an area almost equivalent to the size of Worcestershire) at risk.

The disease, also known as ash dieback, has all but wiped out the most common species of ash in Denmark, Poland…